Where No Man Has Gone Before
by TreeOfLife1997
Summary: When the crew of the Enterprise intercept a distress beacon on their first serious mission, which is to explore the edge of the galaxy, they face a challenge of a supernatural kind. An area of space where no man has gone before, or so it is claimed. So how did a distress beacon cross their path? What happened to the crew of the ship the beacon came from? And what's wrong with Gary?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter One:

Stardate: 2258.135

Captain's log:

 _We're leaving that vast cloud of dust and stars that we call our galaxy. Until now, our mission has only consisted of space law regulation, contact with earth colonies and supply runs. But now a new task, to travel where no man has gone before…_

)o(

"Mr Spock, you have the Conn." Jim announces, as his gets up from the Captain's chair and heads towards the turbo lift.

Spock gets up from his chair at the science station and moves towards the Captain's chair, watching the Captain closely as he does so. Jim had been Captain for little over a three month now and not once had he been late for his shift on the bridge or left early.

A friendship was slowly beginning to form between Spock and the Captain, which is excuse Spock gives himself, when he identifies the emotion is currently feeling as worry. After all it was not uncommon for friends to feel worry for each other, when one was not acting their normal selves. He was also the Captain, so it was Spock's duty as first officer to be concerned.

"Is everything well, Captain?" Spock questions, as Jim nears the turbo lift.

Sulu and Chekov who were both also on duty, tried to act as if they weren't listening, but they were fooling nobody. Not that Jim seemed to notice, as he continues to head towards the turbo lift. He pushes the button and waits for the lift.

Sulu and Jim had been friends ever since Jim had jumped off the platform above Vulcan to save him, even when such an action could have got him killed and Sulu wasn't sure he'd ever be able to pay Jim back for that, even though Jim insisted he owed him nothing.

As for Chekov, it was a serious case of hero worship mixed with pure awe and also the fact Chekov and Jim had known each other at the academy. Jim had also been the first person to take what he had to say seriously, even at the academy Jim had always listened to him and he had even gone so far as to use the plan Chekov had suggested when they were trying to save Earth from Nero!

Nobody had ever seemed to take him seriously, due to his young age. Some had even gone as far as to say he'd been too young to join Starfleet and shouldn't have been allowed to be assigned aboard the USS Enterprise, as head navigator no less.

A matter Jim had strongly disagreed with and who had refused to have anyone but Chekov as his head navigator. Jim respected Chekov in way nobody else had before and listened to everything Chekov had to say no matter what other people thought or muttered under their breath.

It also helped that Jim spoke Russian and could understand his accent perfectly.

When Chekov had asked Jim how he knew Russian, Jim had answered that the first astronauts to ever enter space and all those who had worked on the international space station, had to learn Russian and that it was a shame that nobody still bothered with it in this century, as Jim believed the Russian language to be quite beautiful.

Jim glances back a Spock. "Everything's fine, Mr Spock."

Spock inclines his head slightly and Jim offers him a brief smile before entering the turbo lift. Only a matter of minutes after Jim had left the bridge the doors to the turbo lift open once more and Dr McCoy steps out onto the bridge, PADD in hand.

"Where's Jim?" McCoy demands, when he sees it's not Jim in the Captain's chair but Spock instead.

"He left the bridge 3.4 minutes before your arrival, Doctor." Spock answers, raising an eyebrow at the Doctor.

"Of course he did," McCoy mutters darkly. "I swear, when I get my hands on that kid, I'll-"

"To harm the Captain in anyway would be mutiny, Doctor." Spock cuts McCoy off mid rant.

"Like that stopped you." McCoy snaps back.

Spock gives McCoy the Vulcan equivalent of a glare, which wasn't much more than an eyebrow raise and a slight twitch.

"At the time of my… Emotional compromise, the Captain was not the Captain." Spock answers slowly. "Nor was he an authorised member of the crew."

"Because that makes it so much better?" McCoy mumbles sarcastically.

)o(

Jim sat at his desk, reading through the reports he needed to sign off on.

He knew he was being childish, hiding in his quarters, but he didn't care. Right now he had more important things to be doing and worrying about. His shift had finished about an hour and a half ago, so he was officially working in his free time, Spock would be proud.

Sitting back in his chair, Jim shuts his eyes.

Where had that thought come from? Since when did Spock care about his actions? Since when did Spock care at all? Jim couldn't deny a friendship had begun to form between them, but for Spock to actually care? The universe would come to end before that ever happened, Jim was sure.

And it didn't matter what the other, older Spock had said.

Jim's comm suddenly buzzed on his desk and Jim opens his eyes and looks at it. Reaching forward and picking it up, Jim flips it open.

"Jim Kirk here." He answers automatically.

" _Jim!_ " An overly cheerful voice greets him.

A smile crosses Jim's face. "Gary!"

" _The one and only,_ " Gary's voice sounds through the comm. " _Now get your sorry fat ass down to rec room three, today is going to be the day I finally beat you at chess._ "

"I thought you loved me?" Jim asks jokingly.

" _I do._ " Gary answers in kind.

"You wouldn't say those things if you did." Jim answers with a grin as he leaves his quarters and hopping into the thankfully empty turbo-lift at the end of the hallway and heading towards rec room three.

" _Oh, I'm sorry,_ " Gary mocks. " _Did I hurt your feelings?_ "

"No worse," Jim replies. "You insulted my ass."

Gary's laughter echoes through the comm and Jim grins even wider, before snapping his comm shut and entering rec room three. Gary was sitting at a table on the far side of the room, doubled over in laughter. In front of him a game of three dimensional chess had been set up and was ready to play.

"It wasn't that funny, Gary." Jim greets his friend as he slides into the seat across from him.

Gary looks up at Jim and wipes tears of laughter from his eyes. "But it so was."

Jim rolls his eyes. "Black or white?"

"White." Gary answers.

"You really are trying for a win today, aren't you?" Jim grins.

"No," Gary answers. "It just you always play black and making you play white to try and get you out of your comfort zone hasn't worked, so why make it harder for myself?"

Jim shakes his head. "That was almost logical, maybe you should play Spock."

Gary snorts, as he moves his first piece. "I think I'll pass. I can't even beat you, the most illogical player in the universe, so how the hell will I be able to beat the all logical chess master at a game based purely on logic? Did I mention he's also a chess master?!"

Jim looks up at Gary as he picks up his first piece.

"Spock's a chess master?" He asks.

"Yeah, something like that… Might have even been grand master, thinking about it." Gary answers, eyeing up Jim's move. "I'm surprised you haven't asked him to play you."

"Like he would," Jim mutters. "I think he's still a little sore about the whole _Kobayashi_ _Maru_ fiasco from back at the academy, not that it's possible to cheat at chess as far as I know."

"You'd find a way if you weren't so bloody good at it." Gary huffs.

)o(

"Checkmate." Jim grins. "Sorry Gary."

"I should have moved my rook," Gary mutters. "Rematch?"

"I'm tired of beating you, Gary," Jim jokes. "Why don't you play someone you can actually beat for a change?"

Gary shakes his head. "No, I have to beat you at least once before I die… Ask Spock to play with you, it be good to see someone finally knock you off your high horse when it comes to chess."

"I'm not being an arrogant know it all, Gary." Jim sighs. "No one has ever beaten me at chess. It's a fact!"

"I've finally worked it out, you won't play Spock because you're scared you'll lose!" Gary exclaims.

" _Bridge to Captain Kirk._ " Spock's voice suddenly sounds over the intercom.

"Speak of the devil." Jim mutters.

Jim quickly gets to his feet and heads over to the intercom on the wall near the door to the rec room.

"Go ahead, Mr Spock." Jim answers Spock.

" _Captain_ _,_ _we_ _have_ _intercepted_ _a_ _distress_ _beacon_ _of_ _a_ _most_ _curious_ _nature_ _,_ " Spock answers. " _Your_ _presence_ _is_ _required_ _on_ _the_ _bridge_ _._ "

"On my way." Jim replies, turning away from the intercom. "Gary, with me."

"What going on?" Gary asks, as he falls into step beside Jim as they walk along the hallway towards the turbo lift.

"We've picked up a distress beacon," Jim explains. "Sulu and Chekov are both pulling a double shift, they need relief… Just who I was looking for, Kelso with us."

"Aye, sir." Kelso replies, stepping into the turbo lift with Jim and Gary.

"I still can't get used to calling you 'sir'," Gary shakes his head. "It seemed like only days ago that we were at the academy together, fooling around and hanging out with the others…"

"Not to mention I was a year ahead of you." Kelso agrees.

"I remember," Jim grins. "Yet, as I recall, you asked me for help with your homework more than once."

"Anyone would think you've filled the crew with your friends." Gary snorts.

"I had like, eight friends at the academy," Jim points out. "That's hardly filling the crew."

"Oh come off it," Kelso replies. "You knew everyone!"

"I did," Jim agrees. "But that doesn't mean they were my friends."

"We're your friends, you say," Gary suddenly mutters, his voice gaining a bitter tone. "Yet we're still the back up to Sulu and the Russian whiz kid."

"They've earned their places, believe me," Jim glances at Gary his voice taking a sharp tone. "I didn't have you assigned to my crew, because you're my friends. I assigned you because I need the best of the best. Because when I'm on that bridge, I need the best and brightest crew possible… I need you on that bridge back up's or not."

The turbo lift doors slide open and Jim steps out on to the bridge before Gary has a chance to respond.

)o(

 **Hello, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. This is the first story in a series I plan to write, it's** **basically a rewrite of TOS episodes set in the AOS timeline, so it will be quite different** **from the original storyline in some ways and not in others. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Two:

"Mr Mitchell, Mr Kelso, to your stations." Jim orders, as he steps out on to the bridge.

Gary and Kelso quickly hurry out of the lift and over to the helm where they would be relieving Chekov and Sulu of duty. Gary glances as Jim as he makes his way over to Sulu, he still couldn't help but feel slightly bitter at Jim. But he knew Jim was right, Sulu was one of the best pilots in Starfleet without a doubt.

Sulu and Chekov had earned their places on the bridge.

"Thanks for the relief, Mitchell." Sulu sighs, as he gets up from his seat and stretches with yawn. "I think I'm going to sleep into the next century!"

"And miss all the fun?" Gary laughs.

Sulu smiles. "Well, when you put it like that… Maybe I should stay."

"Well, sweet dreams, Mr Sulu." Gary answers, as he sits down. "I promise the helm will be in the same condition you left it in."

"It better be," Sulu threatens jokingly. "As much as you've got to love Scotty, I don't think I could put up with the ranting!"?

Gary smiles to himself as Sulu leaves the bridge with Chekov.

A malfunction had taken place in one of the helms control panels a month or two ago, causing one of the circuits to spark and short out the entire system. Scotty and Jim had spent hours repairing it together, Scotty having deemed Jim the only engineer he knew capable of doing at adequate job.

But then it was no secret Jim was a brilliant engineer.

At the academy Jim had been doing the command and engineering track and Gary believed if Jim hadn't chosen command as his main focus and career path, he'd be the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise right now. So it was little wonder Scotty and Jim got on like a house on fire.

And it had annoyed Sulu to no end, having Scotty on the bridge. Sulu had nothing against Scotty, in fact they were friends. He, Chekov, Scotty, Jim as well as McCoy often took part in poker game nights down in engineering, but Jim and Scotty's endless chatter had really gotten to him.

It was more to do with the fact Sulu had no idea what the two of them were talking about, rather than the talking, which had annoyed him. He had felt left out, especially when Chekov had joined in on the conversation. Chekov like Jim had been studying two tracks, navigation and engineering. Gary had simply found the entire situation amusing.

"Mr Spock, what we got?" Jim asks, as approaches the science station.

Spock arches an eyebrow at the readings on his screen, before turning in his seat to face Jim.

"Captain, the distress beacon we have intercepted is from the USS Valiant, an old Starfleet vessel." Spock explains.

"The Valiant?" Jim questions, as he rests a hand on the back of Spock's chair and leans forward looking over Spock's shoulder, as Spock turns back to the screen with a node. "But she disappeared two hundred years ago! Not to mention she disappeared light years away from here!"

"Indeed," Spock agrees. "And there is still no sign of the ship, just the distress beacon."

"What's its message?" Jim asks, studying Spock's screen.

"I do not know," Spock answers. "I am still attempting to access the beacon's data files remotely."

"Would you like me to try, Mr Spock?" Jim offers. "Hacking is my speciality."

)o(

Jim hands danced over the science station's many screens and keypads, as he worked to hack into the distress beacon from the USS Valiant. He was sitting at the science station with Spock was standing behind him. The Vulcan was watching his ever move like a hawk.

He could feel Spock's disapproving stare on the back of his head, but Jim simply ignored it. Spock may have been able to reprogram any device and write codes of the most complex nature, but when it came to recovering data such as this, Jim was unbeatable.

Jim grins as he catches sight of Spock's reflection on one of the screens.

He knew that look.

It was a look Spock gave him often and Jim had even given it a name in his head. It was the look Spock gave him whenever he was doing something that didn't comply with regulations. But Jim wasn't really doing anything wrong in his own opinion, they needed to recover the data and normal means weren't working, so Jim was just using an alternative method.

"I'm receiving something." Spock suddenly spoke up, raising a hand to his ear piece. "The ships logs are fragmented. It appears their mission was similar to ours, exploring the galaxy edge in this same quadrant."

Jim glances briefly at Spock, but doesn't stop what he's doing. He was going to recover as much of the data as he could and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact he had achieved something Spock hadn't been able to.

Nothing at all.

He'd worry about the fact the USS Valiant had been given orders to explore this quadrant, even though Starfleet had told him they would be the first to explore this part of the galaxy, later. Starfleet must have had a reason to keep the information hidden. Or the orders hadn't come from Starfleet, but something pretending to be Starfleet. After all, back then interstellar communications hadn't been brilliant.

"The ship took severe damage," Spock continues. "From… Something… An unknown force… Seven crewmen dead… No make that six, one crew member seems to have recovered."

"From death?" Jim exclaims incredulously.

"This cannot be correct," Spock continues, as if he had not heard Jim. "The data must be damaged. It doesn't make sense… Something about extra-sensory perception… The Captain is frantic, giving the order to…"

"To what, Mr Spock?" Jim questions.

"… For the ship to self-destruct." Spock replies after a moment.

Jim gets up from the chair at the science station, he couldn't recover any more data. The only way they'd be able to get more information was to beam the beacon aboard, but that came with a degree of risk. And it was a risk Jim was willing to take.

"Mr Spock, beam the beacon aboard," Jim orders, as Spock reclaims his seat at the science station. "Lieutenant Uhura, I want the log recovered and pieced together the best it can be and give me a full report on the contents. If the computer is unable to recover the data, let me know right away."

"Aye, sir." Uhura answers.

"The beacon has successful been beamed aboard, Captain." Spock informs Jim, turning slightly in his chair.

Jim nodes, as he sits down in the Captain's chair. "Thank you, Mr Spock."

)o(

Captain's log: Supplemental.

 _Something truly unexpected has happened. From directly ahead, we're picked up a recorded distress signal. The beacon comes from a ship which has been missing for over two centuries. It seems we're not the first ship to venture into this part of the universe, after all. The recordings we've recovered so far don't look promising. What happened to it out there? Could this possibly be some warning they've left behind? However unintentionally it may have been?_

)o(

"Captain we are approaching the edge of the galaxy," Kelso speaks up from his place at the helm. "Crossing terminus in five minutes."

"Very good, Mr Kelso." Jim acknowledges with a node.

"What ever happened to the Valiant, our mission stays the same," Jim mutters. "Cross the edge and see what's out there."

"We may very well face the same threat faced by our predecessors, the USS Valiant." Spock replies.

"Only one way to find out," Jim grins slightly. "We're leaving the galaxy Mr Mitchell! Ahead warp factor one."

"Aye, sir." Gary answers with a grin of his own.

"Crossing the terminus now." Kelso announces.

"Cap'n." Scotty greets, as he steps out of the turbo lift.

"Mr Scott!" Jim smiles. "You're just in time to say good bye to the Milky Way."

"That's a' weel 'n' gruid, sur," Scotty answers. "Bit a'm needin' a moment o' yer time. Ye see th'-"

"Captain, sensors are detecting… Something… Up ahead!" Kelso cuts Scotty off.

"On screen." Jim orders.

Suddenly the bridge is flooded with a neon green light, which was being cast by a strange formation in the space in front of them. It was like a giant stripe of pulsating energy which stretched for a far as the eye could see.

"Mr Spock?" Jim questions, not taking his eyes off the formation in front of them.

"Readings are inconclusive, Captain." Spock answers, studying the screens in front of him. "But it appears to be a force field of some kind."

"Shields up!" Jim orders.

"Th' lights." Scotty points out, as the bridges lights begin to flicker and go out one by one.

"Yellow alert!" Jim announces, as the lights flicker out completely. "Status report!"

Uhura taps a screen at her station and is thrown back with a scream, as the station short-circuits and explodes in a flash of electricity and smoke.

"Nyota!" Spock quickly moves to her side and helps her to her feet.

"I'm fine." Uhura answers, dusting herself down once she's back on her feet.

"All decks on fire alert." Jim speaks into the intercom, which was so far unaffected.

Suddenly the helm exploded much like the communications station had moments before, Kelso is knocked clean from his seat, while Gary just had time to throw up his hands to shield his face from flying debris.

As puffs of smoke began rising around the station, Gary reached up and gripped the sides of his head and hunched forward. Jim quickly rushed to Kelso's side and checks him over, he wasn't too badly hurt but he'd definitely have a couple of nasty bruises. All of a sudden Gary throws his head back and screams.

"Gary!" Jim exclaims, as Gary passes out and slumps in his seat.

"Mr Scot," Jim orders. "Get us out of here!"

"Aye, sur." Scotty answers.

"Gary, are you hurt?" Jim asks, as Gary groans in his seat.

"Jim…" Gary mutters groggily. "I'm… A little weak, but other than that I feel… Fine."

Gary looks up at Jim and Jim almost stumbles back in alarm.

Gary's eyes were glowing silver.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Three:

Stardate: 2258.136

Captain's log:

 _Our encounter with the force field at the galaxies edge, has all but crippled the ship. We're lost warp capabilities and we've been reduced to impulse power only. Most of the damage to the bridge has been repaired and functionality has been restored, but only just. Full repairs won't be able to a take place until we reach the closest star base… Nine crew members were lost. All died from sudden seizures, the causes of which are still unknown. It's my belief that the force field we encountered somehow caused it, but why did it only affect ten members of the crew? Lieutenant Mitchell was almost the tenth victim, but he somehow recovered. Dr McCoy currently has him under observation. I can't help but wonder why Mitchell survived, when all other crew members died. What's different about Gary?_

)o(

Jim stands leaning against his chair in the Captain's ready room. On either side of him and slightly forward, stood Commander Spock and Doctor McCoy. Spock as always stood ramrod straight, with his shoulders back and his hands clasped against the small of his back. McCoy on the other hand stood in a slightly slouched posture with his shoulders slumped forward and one arm folded across his chest, while the other was held up slightly in front as he waves his hand around as he spoke.

"It's the damnedest thing I've ever seen, Jim," McCoy explains, with a note of frustration in his voice. "Gary's vitals are perfect. Completely flawless. He's awake and alert… He's been reading nonstop for the last twelve hours and he just keep asking for 'more'."

Jim frowns slightly. "More what?"

"Information. Data. Anything and everything," McCoy answers, resting a hand against his chin and tapping in lightly. "I finally gave him a book of old earth poetry just to shut him up for more than a couple of minutes!"

"Minutes?" Jim questions. "Actually I don't want to know. Do you have any idea on what caused their deaths yet, Bones?"

"Preliminary reports from autopsy indicate that in each case damage had been done to the body's neural circuit. Which seems to have caused entire areas of the brain to be burned out."

"Burned out?" Jim questions.

McCoy nodes. "Whole hemispheres of the brain fried like an overheated computer circuit board. There are also signs of damage to the motor neurons throughout the bodies of the deceased, which most likely caused the seizures that occurred before death."

Jim sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "What hit my crew, Mr Spock?"

"I have studied the deceased crew members' medical files for any commonalities," Spock answers. "In hopes of ascertaining the reason why they were the only crew members affected. All those who were affected had extraordinary results in for the same barrage of tests: Esper, apperception and Duke/Heidelberg quotient."

"Those are all tests for psychic abilities," Jim mutters. "ESP, Clairvoyance and Psychometry are the most common found in the few humans who have such abilities. Are you saying that all the crew members who died, had such abilities?"

It wasn't uncommon for humans who took the test to get minor results, after all it wasn't much different to ones 'gut instinct' and feelings humans often got sometimes which warned them of danger.

Even animals had such instincts. In many respects, ESP, Clairvoyance and Psychometry were just stronger versions of it. So 'extraordinary' could be anything from just above the 'minor results' to full blown psychic powers.

"Precisely." Spock replies. "And Lieutenant Mitchell scored highest of them all."

)o(

Jim walked through the halls of the Enterprise as he headed towards the medical bay. McCoy and Spock walked with him. McCoy was on his way back to the medical bay to start his shift and Jim and Spock were going to question Gary. Who knew, maybe he'd be able to tell them something.

"Bones, where's the psychologist who joined us at Aldeberan?" Jim asks, as they turn down another hallway. "Doctor Dehner, was it? Her assignment was to study the crew's reaction in emergency conditions. She might be able to help. I'm sure when I read her file, it showed her ESP rated quite high."

"Uh," McCoy hesitates. "She withdrew her transfer. I guess she had a change of heart."

Jim stares at McCoy for a moment. "Don't tell me Doctor Dehner, is _that_ Dehner."

"It was a long time ago," McCoy defended himself. "I thought she'd forgiven me."

Jim smiles slightly and shakes his head. During their first year at the academy McCoy had attempted to get over his ex-wife and had let Jim set him up with a date. Elizabeth Dehner had been a friend of a friend of Jim's and so McCoy had found himself on a date with her.

At first it had been fine, great even, but then McCoy made a mistake and obviously Dehner wasn't ready to forgive him for it and things hadn't ended on the best terms. After that, McCoy had just given up and refused to let Jim set him up with anyone else.

"Captain, I'm concerned about the reference to extra-sensory perception in the data logs recovered from the USS Valiant's distress beacon. I believe there may be a connection between what happened to their crew and what has happened to our crew."

Jim nodes. "Check with Uhura, Mr Spock, see if anything else has been recovered from the beacon. If there truly is a connection, we need to know as much about as we can. Let's just be grateful that Gary seems to be-" A sudden noise from the medical bay cuts Jim off midsentence and Jim turns to face the direction of the medical bay. "… Okay?"

Jim shared a worried glance with McCoy before quickly hurrying towards the medical bay with both McCoy and Spock on his heels. Jim only stopped moving long enough for the doors to the medical bay to slide open. He hurried into the room and stopped short at the sight which greeted him.

Gary stood in the middle of the room, with his arms spread wide and a manic grin on his face. All objects which occupied the medical bay which weren't stuck to the floor were floating in the air around him, circling him like planets in orbit of a star.

Jim meet Gary's gaze and he had to supress a shudder at the sight of glowing silver eyes. There was something about them which made him uneasy and Jim always trusted his gut instinct, as it had never proved him wrong before.

"Jim!" Gary greets, in an overly cheerful voice, waving to the objects in the air around him. "What do you think?"

)o(

"Gary, what-" Jim began to ask.

"God, I am thirsty." Gary cut across Jim, turning away from him and floating a cup of water to his lips and taking a sip. "You look worried, Jim."

Jim tensed slightly, as Gary hadn't looked back at him and a far as Jim knew Gary didn't have eyes in the back of his head.

"I've been worried about you ever since that night on Deneb IV." Jim finally answers, with a slightly forced smile.

Gary smiles too and turns back to face Jim, as McCoy edges round them and reaches for a floating medical scanner and PADD. "Yeah, she was nova, that one. Not nearly as many after-effects this time, except for the eyes. They kind of stare back at me when I'm shaving."

"Do you feel any different?" Jim asks, curiously as he pushes past his feeling of unease.

"In a way, I feel better than I've ever felt before in my life." Gary answers, a smirk appearing on his lips. "Even better than that time you set me up with that little minx from Risa. It actually seems to have done me some good."

Jim lips twitch slightly as he tries to supress a grin. That was the Gary he knew. If it wasn't for the glowing silver eyes and the floating objects, Jim could have believed his friend and partner in crime on more than one occasion at the academy, was completely fine.

"How are you doing that?" Jim asks, nodding towards the cup floating above Gary's hand and spinning in small circles.

"I'm not sure." Gary answers. "I just… Think of making it happen… And it does."

McCoy quickly walks back round Gary and stops at Jim's side. "Scans are completely normal. There's nothing out of the ordinary."

"You mean aside from the _floating objects_!" Jim answers.

"Oh, Jim," Gary speaks up before McCoy has a chance to answer. "I've been meaning to tell you, there's something wrong with the impulse power. Mr Scott will probably tell you all about it, before dragging you down to engineering to help him and Keenser fix it."

"How do you know?" Jim questions.

"It's amazing Jim," Gary answers, turning away from once more. "It's like I can hear the ship. It's like she's talking to me… And I can talk back to her."

"Gary," McCoy approaches him and rests a hand on his shoulder. "How about you rest for a little while-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Gary bellows and spins round, throwing out his hands and shoving McCoy back.

Jim quickly steadies McCoy as he stumbles backwards, before jumping between the two of them and holding up a hand towards Gary, whilst glancing back to double check McCoy was definitely okay.

"Enough, Gary!" Jim exclaims turning back to face him. "I want you on bed rest and you are not to leave this room until we know what's happened to you. That's an order."

"Aye, aye _Captain_." Gary answers, a dark look passing over his face, causing a shudder to run down Jim's spine.

Jim was getting an incredibly bad feeling about this. A feeling of evil and hatred seemed to be rolling off Gary in waves now and the look he had just given Jim seemed almost predatory. Every muscle in Jim's body tenses subconsciously, as it gets itself ready for a fight or flight response.

Jim straighten up and nodes to Gary. "Good. Dr McCoy keep him under observation. If he shows any intension of further violence, have security stand guard at the door."

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter four:

After the incident with Gary Mitchell in the Enterprise's medical bay, Jim quickly ordered a meeting of his senior crew, more commonly known as the alpha crew, although many of the crew members worked other shifts also.

Around the table sat, Commander Spock, Lieutenant Commander Leonard McCoy, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and Ensign Pavel Chekov.

The briefing room they were using was mostly bare, a single long table filled the centre of the room. Which was capable of seating all senior officers from all departments aboard the Enterprise. The right side of the room was made up of large aluminium oxynitride windows which looked out into the space around them and the hundreds of glittering stars were visible in the distance.

"How th' hell did he know aboot th' impulse power?!" Scotty depends from his seat between Spock and Sulu. "Ah haven't even bin able tae tell ye aboot it yet!"

"Well you've got the chance now, Mr Scott." Jim answers from his place at the head of the table.

"Weel, as ye know, th' warp is completely fried." Scotty begins to explain. "But even before we wur struck by whitevur that was, ah found cracks in th' impulse engine. If ah hadn't disconnected th' power packs on th' starboard side 'n' thay hud bin activated whin th' warp was knocked out, it would have blown up th' entire deck!"

Jim pitches the bridge of his nose. "How long will it take to repair it?"

"A'm needin' a Starbase tae be able tae fix it." Scotty answers with a slight shake of his head. "An astonishingly well-equipped one, preferably."

"Keptin," Chekov speak up. "Without warp kapabilities, eet will take months, even a year to reach the nearest base. But eef ze impulse power holds, we kan reach ze outpost on Delta Vega een a few days. Eet was an old lithium kracking facility. Eet's uninhabited, but eet may hev the resources we need."

"Lithium cracking!" Scotty exclaims. "Why nae juist gimme some glue 'n' string?"

"If I am not mistaken, Mr Scott." Spock cuts in smoothly. "Lithium cracking facilities need a great deal of power. Would it not be wise to assume the facility would have used and stored energy in battery form?"

"Aye," Scotty agrees. "We may be able tae adapt a couple o' power packs tae oor engines."

"Just do the best you can, Mr Scott." Jim informs Scotty before turning to McCoy. "Any update on Mitchell?"

"I've got him sedated for the time being," McCoy answers with a slight shakes of his head. "He's unconscious but he's still smiling, it's making me nervous."

Jim nodes and turns to Uhura. "Has any more data been recovered from the Valiant logs?"

"Only one new fragment has been recovered." Uhura replies. "The crew member who recovered from the attack… They showed the same symptoms as Mitchell. It was shortly after that when the captain gave the order for self-destruct."

"Okay," Jim mutters. "Bones, I want constant updates on Mitchell's condition. If he so much as blinks I want to know about it. Chekov, Sulu, plot a course for Delta Vega, the sooner we get there the better. Scotty give us all the power you can. And I want no discussion of Mitchell's condition to any other members of the crew. That's an order. Dismissed."

)o(

Jim sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do. This was the Enterprise's first serious mission and it was going to hell in a hand basket. The ship had been reduced to impulse power and even that was one the verge of giving out, there was a chance they wouldn't even make it as far as Delta Vega.

He may have appeared cool and collected in the meeting with the senior crew, but in truth he was just winging it. He gave orders and the crew were following them, but for how much longer could he keep this up? Every single instinct he had was screaming at him to run. To get as far away from the ship as possible.

That it wasn't safe.

That Gary wasn't safe.

Jim had taken all the tests at the academy and he had got some interesting results on a few of them, which he had happily hacked and charged. But ESP and the other abilities that Gary had shown were not among them.

Jim's instincts came from experience. From a time when his instincts were the only thing capable of keeping himself and others safe and alive. His ability to sense danger didn't come psychic abilities or being able to see into the future, but he trusted them above everything else.

He also couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched, which was ridicules. He had checked his quarters for hidden surveillance cameras and bugs the first day aboard as captain and he kept check on who entered his quarters. Again the ability to tell when he was being watched came from a time when it was vital to keeping himself and others alive.

Tarsus IV had a lot to answer for.

The entrance chime to his room sounded and Jim looked up.

"Come in." Jim calls, straightening up.

The door to his room slides open and Spock steps into the room.

"Captain." He greets.

"How can I help you, Mr Spock?" Jim asks, getting to his feet and moving over to his desk.

Spock eyes the three dimensional chess set which was set up on the desk beside the computer for a second, before turning his attention to Jim. But Spock couldn't help but notice the chess set appeared to be half way through a game, before he had turned his attention away from it.

"Our patient is no longer that of Gary Mitchell." Spock answers, cutting straight to the point.

"Explain yourself, Commander." Jim replies as he takes a seat at his desk.

"While Dr McCoy had Mitchell sedated, I attempted to mind-meld with him," Spock explains, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the wall behind Jim. "Dr McCoy believed I was simply examining him."

"Damn it, Spock," Jim exclaims. "That was out of line-"

"His mind was empty," Spock cuts Jim off effortlessly. "There was no consciousness. No sentience of any kind. Whatever now inhabits the body of Gary Mitchell poses an imminent threat to the safety of this ship and its crew. Remember what Mitchell said, he can merely think of something and it happens. That alone holds the answer to what may have happened to the Valiant. We'll never reach an Earth base with him aboard, Captain."

"What I need are recommendations, Mr Spock, not vague warnings." Jim sighs, picking up a white knight from its place beside the chess board and twirling it between his fingers.

"Very well," Spock inclines his head slightly. "Recommendation one: Leave Mitchell behind on Delta Vega."

"Gary is my friend and a member of this crew!" Jim exclaims, jumping to his feet. "I will not leave him stranded on some rock in the middle of nowhere!"

"As the planet has a lithium cracking facility, it would offer a suitable and safe place to leave Mitchell." Spock responds.

Jim shakes his head. "I don't care, Mr Spock. I'm not leaving him there alone."

"Then you have only one other choice, Captain." Spock answers, as gravely as a Vulcan can. "Kill him while you still can."

"Get out!" Jim orders angrily.

"It is your only other choice," Spock persists. "Assuming you make it while you still have time."

Jim glares at Spock. "Will you try for one moment to feel? And don't give me that bullshit about how Vulcan are incapable of feeling emotions, because we both know that isn't true. We're talking about my friend here, Mr Spock. I can't just abandon my friend like that and I sure as hell can't kill him!"

"The Captain of the Valiant probably felt the same way, and he waited too long to make his decision." Spock points out. "I think we've both reached that conclusion."

)o(

Captain's log: Supplemental.

 _It's been just over a day since this whole dilemma started… As much as I hate to admit it, I starting to think Spock's right. I only have two options: leave Gary on Delta Vega or kill him. Gary may no longer be the Gary Mitchell I knew and the Gary Mitchell that was my friend at the academy, but I can't kill him. I know Spock would probably make some logical point about how Gary is already dead and know some entity is inhabiting his body… It's just he still looks like Gary and I can't kill my friend even if it is just his body._

)o(

Jim stood looking through the observation window outside Gary Mitchell's private room in the medical bay. Gary was currently awake and alert, flicking through pieces of text after pieces of text on a PADD one of the medical staff had given him.

McCoy had been right, nothing kept Gary entertained for more than a minute and the speed at which he flicked through the text was highly alarming, he didn't stay on one page for than a couple of seconds.

Spock was definitely right, this was no longer Gary Mitchell.

Sighing, Jim turns and walks towards the door to Gary's room. The door slides open and Jim steps into the room.

"Jim!" Gary greets, sounding like his usual self, without looking up from the PADD in his hands.

"Gary," Jim returns. "How you feeling?"

Gary look up from his PADD and looks thoughtful. "I'm thirsty."

On the far side of the room a cup picks itself up and hovers under the tap, which switches itself on and begins to fill up. Jim ducks out the way, as the half-filled glass of water flies over him and hovers in front of Gary who reaches up and takes the glass from mid-air before taking a sip.

"It's like a man who has been blind all of his life, suddenly being given sight." Gary suddenly starts speaking again. "Sometimes I feel there's nothing I couldn't do, in time. Some people think that makes me a monster, don't they Jim?"

"A monster?" Jim shakes his head. "A danger maybe, but not a monster."

Gary smirks. "Yet you cannot hide the unease which you feel when you're around me."

"Just because you make me uneasy doesn't mean you're a monster, Gary." Jim replies, shifting from foot to foot uneasily as Gary fixed him with an unwavering silver glare.

Suddenly the lights start flickering and alarms start sounding, causing Jim to look round wildly in surprise. Gary just smirks, as a yellow alert sounded. Jim turned and looked back at Gary.

"You're causing this!" Jim accuses.

Gary just carries on smirking and the data on his PADD begins flicking from page to page at a faster rate. Suddenly McCoy and a medical team burst into the room and Gary's quickly sedated. McCoy turns to face Jim.

"I know, Bones, I know." Jim mutters.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'll update as soon as I can. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter five:

Stardate: 2258.140

Captain's log:

 _In under an hour we'll be in orbit of Delta Vega. As much as it pains me to admit it, Spock is right. Gary, my friend, is a danger to this ship and all the crew who serve aboard… I have no choice, I have to leave Gary on Delta Vega. It is the better of the two choices I have. Abandon him or kill him. Believe me when I say I don't want to leave him and if I could think of another way, I'd take it. But the needs of the crew must come first, even before my own wellbeing, be it emotional or physical._

)o(

Jim sat with his forehead resting against the window of the observation deck, watching as Delta Vega drew closer and closer. They'd enter orbit of the planet in only a couple of minutes… Jim was minutes away from abandoning when of his closest friends on a planet in the middle of nowhere.

Shutting his eyes, Jim tried to calm the emotions which were racing through him. This wasn't the first time he had worked in space on a ship and been forced to make tough decisions. But this was the first time he was doing it as a Captain. This was the first time the decision rested on his shoulders and his shoulders alone.

He knew when he signed up for the command track, this would be what his life would be like. That didn't make it any easier though and to be honest Jim hadn't been planning on staying around after he had graduated. He was just going to disappear before he could be assigned to a ship, he would have won his bet with Pike after all… But then Vulcan had been destroyed.

Jim hadn't even stopped to think about the consequences of what he was about to do when he had woken up in the Enterprise's medical bay, he had simply acted. All that had mattered to him in that moment was saving the ship and all those on board. He hadn't been thinking long term, he'd just needed to stop people dying and then when it was over, he couldn't just disappear.

No matter where he could have gone, no matter how far underground he went, everyone had known his name. They knew his face. He had just saved the Federation. He was a hero in the eyes of the Federation… Even the Klingons would have been able to recognise him! And then Pike had named him as his successor and there was no getting out of that. The public wanted him as captain, hell even the president wanted him as captain.

How do you disappear after that?

So Jim was sticking to what he knew how to do best. Save lives. Because that's all Jim had ever done. He would always risk everything he had to save another, even if it was a complete stranger. That was all that mattered to him, saving lives. His whole life, from the moment he had been born, he had been surrounded by death. So he had made it his goal to prevent it whenever he could.

" _Captain,_ " Spock voice sounds through the intercom. " _We have reached Delta Vega._ "

Jim opens his eyes and gets to his feet. The moment he had been dreading most had finally arrived. He quickly made his way over to the intercom and pushed one of the buttons down.

"Very good, Mr Spock," Jim replies. "Meet me in sickbay."

)o(

McCoy didn't even look up from where he was running a scan on Gary, as Jim and Spock entered the medical bay. Jim was a couple of steps in front of Spock and as he approached Gary, an unidentifiable look crossed his face before he schooled his features into a normal expression.

"Why so sad, Jim?" Gary asks, turning his silver gaze to the approaching Captain.

Jim stop in front of Gary's bed and clenched his fists as an unusual sensation passed over him, but it was one he had felt before.

"Are you reading our thoughts, Gary?" Jim questions.

"Not thoughts exactly, Jim," Gary answered, glancing at Spock for a second. "More like… Colours. I feel like a blind man who can suddenly see. I feel like a man who can suddenly do everything… Does that scare you, Jim?"

Jim shrugs slightly. "People fear what they cannot or do not understand and I understand perfectly."

"Of course," Gary answers. "After all you haven't been entirely honest yourself, have you Jim?"

Jim bit down on his tongue to stop himself from responding to what Gary had said. He'd do himself no favours if he admitted what Gary had just said was true.

"How could I possibly lie?" Jim finally asks. "You know as well as I do that those test are impossible to fool."

Gary remains quite and simply stares at Jim, his silver gaze unreadable.

"It is strange," Gary finally mutters, seeming curious. "You feel fear, but it is not of me. You do not fear me, nor do you fear what I am capable of doing to you… You feel fear only for your crew and what I will do to them. That their lives are in danger."

"What would you have me do?" Jim questions, knowing Gary had worked out what he was planning on doing. "What would you do in my place, Gary?"

"Probably what I'm sensing your First Officer prefers," Gary answers, with a manic grin. "Kill me while it's still possible."

Jim tenses slightly and he feels Spock stiffen behind him, it seemed he wasn't the only one who didn't like where this conversation was heading.

"I know we're in orbit of Delta Vega, Jim," Gary carries on talking as he gets to his feet. "You must understand I can't let you strand me there."

"I don't have a choice, Gary," Jim answers, taking a step towards him and away from Spock. "I know you know why too."

If this was heading the way he thought it was, he didn't want Spock getting caught in the fallout. Taking another step, Jim positioned himself in such a way whatever Gary sent his way wouldn't rebound and harm anyone else.

As Jim had predicted, Gary attacked. Electricity summoned out of nowhere, bursts from Gary suddenly outstretched palms and crashes into him. Jim let out a cry as the force sent him flying backwards and his body felt like it was on fire. But as quickly as it started it stopped. Jim looked up just in time to see McCoy pull a hypo-spray away from Gary's neck as his body slummed to the ground.

Spock was at Jim side instantly and helping him to his feet. "Captain-"

"I'm fine, Spock… And thanks Bones." Jim mutters, rubbing his temples as he turned towards McCoy.

"The sedatives not going to work much longer, Jim," McCoy explains from where he is once more scanning Gary. "That sedative was enough to knock out most of the Klingon Empire. Hopefully it'll be enough to keep him out until you get him down to the surface."

)o(

Jim felt numb as he stood on the transporter ready to beam down to Delta Vega, but that might have been the after effects of nearly being electrocuted. One of his closest friends had nearly killed him, well the body of one of his closest friends. Any remaining doubts on whether Gary was still Gary were definitely gone.

Gary would never have done that to him.

Scotty, Spock and Kelso were the only other members of the Enterprise beaming down alongside him and the unconscious Gary. Jim and Spock had both agreed the smaller the landing party the better. Nobody had stepped foot on Delta Vega in a long time, during which the planet had turned wild once more.

Who knew what could be waiting for them.

Jim readjusted his grip on Gary's unconscious form as the door to the transporter room slid open and Scotty, Kelso and Spock entered. Much to Jim's relief there was no sign of McCoy. After Gary had been taken out and McCoy had finished his scan, he had all but pounced on Jim. Jim as usual hadn't been quick enough to dodge the hypo, but he had managed to get out of being kept in the medical bay for observation.

But Jim didn't doubt for a second that McCoy would be waiting for him when he got back to the ship. There was no way McCoy was going to let him get away unchecked after he'd nearly been electrocuted. He technically had been electrocuted, but to Jim it hadn't been any worse than a phaser set on a low stun setting… It hadn't even knocked him out for crying out loud!

"Energise." Jim orders the Ensign on duty, once everyone was standing on the transporter pad and ready to go.

Seconds later they were on Delta Vega, standing in the ruined control room of the facilities main control room.

"Mr Scott, you and Kelso find what you need to get warp back online," Jim orders, glancing round. "I don't want to stay here a second longer than we need to."

"Aye, sir." Both Scotty and Kelso answer, before heading of in search of what they needed.

Turning to Spock, who was armed with a phaser rifle, Jim shuts his eyes for a second, as he went through the plan in his mind one more time.

"Spock," Jim mutters opening his eyes and meeting Spock's gaze. "We'll put Gary in the station's crew quarters. Get the force field ready, as soon as Gary is secure… We're out of here."

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter six:

It was only seconds after Spock had set up the force field that Gary woke and sat bolt upright on the bed Jim had placed him on. Jim singled for Spock to contact the Enterprise, but when Spock opened his comm, nothing but static sounded. And Jim wouldn't have been wrong if he had voiced his thoughts on it being Gary who was causing it.

"Jim…" Gary mutters with a slight shake of his head. "Jim, you ignorant, ignorant… Insect."

Jim could have laughed if the circumstances had been different. He had been called many things in the past, but an insect? That was new.

"I'm sorry, Gary," Jim speaks softly. "If there's any part of Gary left inside you that is."

"Spock stranded you on another Delta Vega once, didn't he?" Gary turns and glares at Jim, his silver eyes flashing. "Least there you had some company. Unlike here where I have nothing but a replicator to keep me company."

"We both know I nearly died on Delta Vega, Gary," Jim answers, hardly noticing Spock gaze snap towards him. "I'm only alive right because an old friend saved me. I would choose this Delta Vega over that frozen planet any day of the week!"

"And now you're doing the same to me," Gary gets to his feet. "How _Starfleet_ of you. It seems to be a new fashion trend you Captains are trying to set. When the going gets tough, abandon your crew. Maybe they'll start teaching a lesson on it back at the academy!"

Jim clenched his fists. "I would sooner die than abandon my crew! But you have given me no other choice but to do this. You are a danger to the Enterprise and all who severe aboard her! You may have possessed the body of one of my closest friends, but you are not Gary! And even if you were, I'd still be doing what I'm doing right now, because the needs of the crew must come before my own!"

"Then so be it," Gary answers, approaching the force field. "If you would sooner die than abandon your crew, then it can be arranged. Because you're never going to make it off this planet alive. And once you're dead, your crew will be next and once they're gone, they entire Federation will bow before me."

And before Jim or Spock had a chance to react, Gary burst through the force field in a shower of sparks and smoke. Spock didn't even have a chance to raise his phaser rifle before Gary was upon them.

A pain and a burning sensation ten times than what Jim had felt in the medical bay flooded through him and he collapsed to his knees, unable to stop the cry of pain that escaped him. After what felt like hours of endless pain and burning his eye rolled and he slumped to the ground, out cold. The sheer power of Gary's attack had been enough to overwhelm Spock too and he hit the ground unconscious, only a couple of seconds after Jim.

Gary smiles down at their unconscious forms with a truly wicked smile. All he had to do now was get rid of Scotty and Kelso, then Enterprise would his for the taking and once he was back aboard the ship, there would be no stopping him.

)o(

Scotty and Kelso had split up in order to search a larger area. The facility may have been old, but it was huge and most of the building was still standing. Most of the room lay in ruins and almost all of the machinery was in such a state of decay that it would never be useable again. But a few rooms remained relatively untouched by the outside world and still had working machinery.

Pulling a battery pack loose of the control panel in front of him, Kelso flipped open his communicator and held up the battery to get a better look at it.

"Mr Scott," Kelso speaks into his communicator. "I've found a 203-r battery. I think with a little tweaking and rewiring, we'll be able to bring it back to life."

" _Excellent, Mr Kelso,_ " Scotty's voice sounded through the static. " _A'm beaming up this batch o' crystals now. See ye in engineering._ "

"Very good, Mr Sc-" Kelso begins only to be cut off by the sound of footsteps behind him.

Spinning on his heels, Kelso's eyes widen as he sees Gary approaching. "Gary!"

"Gary, what happened?" Kelso questions, putting down the battery and snapping his communicator shut. "Where's the Captain?"

"Don't do it, Kelso," Gary warns, sounding bored. "Don't go for your phaser."

Kelso takes a step back, drawing his phaser from his belt as Gary closes the distance between them.

"Stop right there, Gary," Kelso warns. "And tell me what's going on right now!"

Gary smirks at Kelso while stepping closer and bats away the resulting phaser fire, as if waving away a fly.

"We were such good friends once, weren't we?" Gary mutters, hardly noticing as Kelso fired at him again. "You, me and Jim."

"Gary, what are you-" Kelso is cut off as his arm suddenly begins to move on its own.

"But now it feels like…" Gary pauses and turns to Kelso. "Someone else's memory."

"Gary!" Kelso exclaims in alarm, as his arm continues to move on its own and points the phaser in his hand at his own head. "Help me!"

Gary smirks and turns away. "Goodbye, Kelso."

The sound of a phaser firing fills the room, shortly followed by a body hitting the ground and a phaser cluttering to the floor.

Only seconds after Gary had disappeared back down the hallway he had appeared from, Scotty appears through a second entrance on the opposite side of the room. Spotting Kelso's communicator and the battery he had been telling Scotty about moments before, resting on top a panel, Scotty quickly makes his way over to it.

But as he walks closer, Kelso's body comes into view and Scotty almost stumbles back in surprise, shock and horror. Scotty may have only been an engineer, but even with his limited medical knowledge he could tell Kelso was dead. Kelso had a phased wound to the side of his head and when the trigger had been pulled, the setting hadn't been on stun.

Pulling out his communicator, Scotty orders the Enterprise to beam up Kelso's body, along with the battery and his communicator. Once the last of the transporter beams had vanished, Scotty turns on his heels and hurries towards where Jim had said he was taking Gary. Scotty may not have known Kelso well, but he hadn't struck Scotty as the type who'd take his own life which could only mean one thing.

Gary had escaped.

)o(

"Scotty..?" Jim mumbled as he regained consciousness to find his chief engineer sitting over him. "What..?"

"Tis tairible, Cap'n," Scotty explains, helping Jim to his feet. "Mr Mitchell's escaped."

"Escaped..?" Jim mutters, rubbing his head. God did he have one killer migraine on the way.

"'n' Mr Kelso…" Scotty hesitates for a second, knowing how close he and Jim were. "He's dead, sur."

"Gary, what have you done..?" Jim mutters to himself as he turns towards Spock who was getting to his feet. "You okay, Mr Spock?"

"Affirmative, Captain." Spock answers. "Mr Scott, where is Mr Mitchell now?"

"Gone," Scotty replies. "Ah cannae fin' him."

Truth be told Scotty hadn't actively looked for him, he had been more concerned about the what had happened to Jim and Spock and after seeing Kelso's body, Scotty rather hoped he didn't cross paths with Gary anytime soon. But the Enterprise couldn't pick him up on the scanners, it was like he had disappeared.

"It's a good thing you didn't, Scotty," Jim answers with a grim smile. "The chances are if you had, you'd be dead right now."

Turning to face the room they had placed Gary in, Jim studied the destroyed force field. There was no denying it, Gary was too dangerous to be left alive now. He had killed Kelso, who Jim knew was Gary's best friend, even if Gary did deny it. And Jim also knew if Gary had to choose between saving him or Kelso, Gary would always choose Kelso.

"Mr Spock, pass me your rifle." Jim orders, turning to Spock and holding out his hand.

Spock hands over the weapon and Jim places it over one shoulder in a casual manner, as he flicks open his communicator.

"Chekov, do you copy?" Jim speaks into the communicator.

" _Aye, Keptin!_ " Chekov replies.

"Get me a reading on Mr Mitchell," Jim orders. "He can't be far from the station."

" _Ze scanners cannot see him, Keptin._ " Chekov informs him.

Jim shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath.

This wasn't good.

"Thank you, Mr Chekov." Jim finally answers, before snapping his communicator shut.

"Scotty get back to the ship and get her fixed up and ready to go," Jim orders, turning to face Scotty and Spock. "Mr Spock you have the conn."

"Captain," Spock takes a step towards Jim. "I strongly advise you against confronting Mr Mitchell alone."

"I know what needs to be done, Mr Spock," Jim answers, his tone of voice leaving no room for argument. "And _I'm_ the one who has to do it. If I'm not back in three hours, quarantine the planet and get the hell out of here as fast as you can! Captain's orders."

)o(

Captain's log: Supplemental.

 _I knew it was going to come to this, as much as I didn't want to admit it. From the moment I knew Spock was right about Gary no longer being Gary, I knew this was going to happen. I just hope there's enough time for me to either kill him or to keep him occupied long enough for the Enterprise to get away safely… And three hours may not seem like a long time but it is a long time when I'm about to become an unwilling player in a deadly game of cat and mouse… And I'm the mouse._

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seven:

Jim readjusted his grip on the phase rifle in his hands as he walked along the eerily silent hallway of the old and abandoned lithium cracking facility. The place was giving him the creeps, which wasn't that much of a surprise really as ever since Tarsus IV, abandoned and deserted buildings had been Jim's least favourite places to be.

Turning a corner and entering another hallway, Jim tenses slightly. He could sense Gary's presences nearby, but he couldn't pin point where it was exactly. It felt like water running over his mind as Gary tried to read his thoughts and Jim couldn't help but grin slightly. Even if Gary did find a way to get into his head, Jim doubted he'd like what he found there.

Jim's past wasn't a pretty one but he had made peace with it, so Gary would never be able to use it against him. Jim may not be proud of everything that had happened in his past and the things he had done, but he had done them in order to survive. He wasn't going to let his past haunt him and dictate his every move.

Yes he might still have nightmares and wake screaming some nights. Yes he may still sleep with a knife under his pillow. And yes he did check ever drink and meal he ate and drank for poison, but his past wasn't going to stop him from living his life, nor was he going to use it as an excuse when things went wrong or hide behind it when things got tough.

Jim stops walking suddenly, as he senses a shift in the air around him. It reminded him of the feeling he got when the air pressure suddenly changed, but this had nothing to do with air pressure. Glancing round wearily, Jim carries on walking along the hallway. Whatever Gary was about to throw his way wouldn't be good.

A cracking sound stops Jim dead in his tracks and he glances to the side to see a crack had formed in one of the glass display cases which lined the walls of the hallway. And as Jim watched the crack began to spread across the glass, forming a white spider web of cracks in the glass. Jim worked out what was about to happen seconds before the glass exploded outwards.

Jim threw up his arms to protect his head and face as a shower of broken glass rained down on him. The glass cut at him as it fell, leaving small cuts and beads of blood running down his skin. Shards of glass glittered on the floor around his feet and as he straightened up after a moment, glass fell from his uniform and clinked as the pieces bounced along the ground.

Checking the wounds the glass had created, Jim wiped the beads of blood from his skin. None of the injuries were serious, he'd had worse paper cuts in the past. Jim was more worried about the fact he hadn't been seriously injured. He knew without a doubt that the exploding glass could have killed him, if Gary had wanted it to.

Picking up his parser rifle, which he had dropped when he had thrown up his arms to protect himself, Jim took a moment to study the hallway in front of him in greater detail. The glass display cases which lined the walls were home to a wide range of rocks and minerals as well as fossils which had all been discovered on the planet.

It almost felt like he had walked into a museum.

Turning, Jim intended to walk back the way he had come and find another hallway which would lead him to the upper floors. He needed to get away from the glass before Gary had a chance to throw anymore at him. But before Jim could even take a step, the walls of the hallway caved in, the metal and bricks bending inwards in a way that shouldn't have been physically possible.

With his way out now cut off, Jim turns round once more. The only way he could go now was down the hallway and passed all the glass display cases, which were now weapons in Gary's arsenal as was the whole building if the bending walls were anything to go by.

Gary could kill Jim in seconds with that sort of power, so why hadn't he?

)o(

McCoy rushes forward as the body of Kelso was bought into the medical bay. The officers who had bought Kelso's body quickly left the medical bay before McCoy even had a chance to question them on what had happened.

Glaring at the door to the medical bay the officers had just vanished out of, McCoy barked an order at one of the nurses on duty. In a matter of seconds Kelso body had been moved from where the officers had placed it, to the examination room used for autopsies.

It had been a while since McCoy had last carried out an autopsy, during the last year at the academy McCoy had been too busy with his homework and all the autopsies had been carried out by the students specialising in pathology, to lessen the work the practicing doctors had to do.

In truth all of the autopsies should have been carried out by the pathology students, but McCoy was once a small town doctor, so was used to carrying out autopsies at the practice he worked at before Joselyn had taken everything from him.

Muttering to himself as he enters the examination room, McCoy quickly begins running the scans needed to determine the time of death. Centuries ago pathologist had to determine the time of death using a calculation based on the bodies temperature and the level of decay the body was in.

But now the scans used could pin point the time of death to the nearest second. It made doctors lives everywhere much easier, but McCoy still liked to run tests the old fashioned way… Sometimes the machines were faulty, plus McCoy liked to think of himself as an old fashioned doctor. Artificial intelligence wouldn't never be able to beat human intuition in his book.

Sometime later as McCoy was just finishing writing his report on Kelso's death, which had found, unsurprisingly, that Kelso's cause of death and been from a single phaser shot to the side of the head, when a nurse suddenly burst into the examination room.

"There's been an accident in engineering, Doctor," The nurse informs him. "All those who were injured are on their way up now, sir."

Signing off his report, McCoy gets up from where he was sitting at the desk and clicks his back before following the nurse back out in to the main floor of the medical bay. The first of the injured engineers was already being seen to and from what McCoy could see it was only a few minor burns.

As the injured engineers continued to arrive, McCoy found himself treating none other than Montgomery Scott, the ship's chief engineer.

Burns covered Scotty's hand and lower arms, luckily they weren't too serious with the worst of the burns being the two degree burns to his palms. Picking up a dermal regenerator, McCoy set to work on treating Scotty's hands.

"What happened?" McCoy questioned after a moment, as he glanced at the other engineers who were being treated, there were eleven others in total.

"A dinnae know," Scotty answers with a slight shake of his head. "One moment we wur workin' then everything wis on fire! Then it disappeared, nae even a scorch marc left behind!"

"Why am I not surprised?" McCoy grumbles. "He already has telekinetic abilities, why not add pyrokinesis to the list too?"

It was a worrying development that Gary was able to interfere with the Enterprise still even though his was stranded on the planet below. The sooner they got away from the planet the better. As the dermal regenerator finished its work on Scotty's hands, McCoy knew the injuries could have been a lot worse.

And by the look on Scotty's face, he knew it too.

)o(

Wiping the blood from his face, Jim stops in order to catch his breath. He had only just made it out of the building before it had caved in on itself. The hallway lined with glass display cases had only been the first of many challenges Gary had thrown his way. It still surprised Jim he had made it out of that corridor with all minor cuts and scratches.

Every time he had drawn level with a display case, it had exploded outwards in shower of glass fragments. In the end Jim had just decided to run as fast as he could past them, in hopes of getting out with minimal injuries, but not matter how fast or slow he went the exploding glass kept level with him. Even now he could still shake glass fragments out his hair.

And after that every corridor, hallway and room faced Jim with a new danger.

In one hallway he had been forced to run as fast as he could as the floor began to fall away behind him. He had only made it out alive by jumping and grabbing hold of the bottom of a doorway and pulling himself up into the room the hallway lead to. If he hadn't he wouldn't have fallen thirteen feet to the ground below.

The room itself had been perfect sound, the only problem were the countless wires and pipes hanging down from the half collapsed ceiling. Again it would have been perfectly easy to get past if Gary hadn't made every single one of the wire and pipes come alive and try and strangle him.

He nearly hadn't made it.

He had only got out alive thanks to the knife he kept hidden in one of his boots, which he used to cut a wire which had wrapped itself around his neck incredibly tightly. It had been worse than being strangled by Spock on the bridge.

After that he had been faced with exploding walls, collapsing ceilings, more disappearing floors, sudden fires which appeared out of nowhere, equipment which hadn't worked for years suddenly bursting to life and attacking him as well as an invisible force which sent him crashing into walls and falling down steps.

And to make it worse Jim knew Gary was just toying with him. He was showing Jim what he could do and how easy it would be for him to kill him, it be just like swatting a fly. Gary's powers and abilities were getting stronger and Jim knew if he didn't find Gary soon, he wouldn't be able to get close to him, let alone kill him!

Even as he carried on walking, Jim knew his time was running out.

He had given Spock orders and if he didn't find and kill Gary soon, the Enterprise would leave and Jim would remain trapped on the planet with Gary, with no way of escaping and no hope of rescue. Once this planet had been quarantined, it was game over for Jim.

Because maybe, just maybe, that was why Gary hadn't killed him yet.

He needed Jim alive in order to get back aboard the ship and escape the planet. If Jim was to suddenly disappear of the scanners, the Enterprise would think he was dead and they would leave before the three hours were up, if the repairs had been carried out in time.

Gary needed Jim alive and so Jim was still alive, but the second he was no longer needed…

Jim shakes his head. He shouldn't be worrying about that, he needed to focus on finding Gary, killing him and getting off the planet before the three hours were up. He didn't believe in no-win scenarios and he wasn't about to start believing in them now.

"Jim," Gary's voice whispered from around him. "This way."

Jim glances round, but Gary was nowhere in sight.

"This way, Jim," Gary's voice sounds again. "Come on."

Looking back at the collapsed building one last time, Jim begins to head out into the wilderness of the planet.

"That's it, Jim," Gary's voice cackled. "This way."

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Eight:

"That's it, James," Gary voice echoes. "This way."

Jim slowly and carefully made his way forward, careful not to lose his footing on the unstable ground his was walking across. One false move here would send him crashing down the side of a steep ridge and into the pile of sharp and jagged rocks which lay at the bottom.

It wouldn't be a pleasant way to go.

"Almost there!" Gary's voice echoes again, sounding far more cheerful this time.

Jim had no doubt he was walking straight into a trap. His only advantage was he knew he was walking into a trap, which he'd admit wasn't much of an advantage. But it was also the only way he knew he'd be able to get close enough to Gary to kill him.

He had no way of tracking Gary, as the Enterprise couldn't pick his signal on the ship's scanners and Gary's abilities meant he could most likely disappear and reappear on the opposite side of the planet in a blink of an eye.

"Kaferian apple?" Gary offers, holding out the fruit in offering as Jim steps into the clearing Gary was standing in the middle of.

Jim looks round quickly for a second, scanning his surroundings and memorising them before turning his attention to Gary. Jim knew where he was now hadn't been anywhere near where he had been walking only moments before, the terrain was too different. It was like walking through a thick forest one moment and suddenly finding yourself in the middle of an ocean.

Had Gary's powers changed the landscape or had he been moved?

"I can make as many as you want," Gary explains, before waving his hand causally through the air and a tree sprouts from the ground. "Behold a miracle. Life born from rock."

Slowly Jim lowers his phaser rifle and looks round in shock as planets burst from the ground around him and the rocky ground beneath his feet turns into a meadow, filled with flowers and grass. Tree's tower up into the sky and cast shadows across the now grassy ground, whilst bushes rustle in the breeze.

He was almost expecting butterflies and rabbits to appear next, but Gary only seemed interested in creating plants. Gripping a firm but relaxed grip on the phaser rifle in his hands, Jim knew he needed to strike as soon as an opportunity presented itself. As soon as Gary let his guard down, he needed to strike with no hesitation what so ever.

"I can sense your fear, but there is no reason to be afraid," Gary waves his hands to the plants growing around them and turning his back on Jim. "I'm the God of Life now, Jim… The creator of worlds!"

Quickly Jim raises his rifle and aims it at Gary.

"Gary," Jim whispers to himself. "If there's any part of you that can still hear me… I'm sorry."

Pulling the trigger, Jim watches as all Gary does is spin round to face him with inhuman speed and raise his hand and the phaser blast vanishes into thin air.

"Pathetic," Gary sneers. "And to think, all you came here to do was kill me and you can't even do that properly! What hope do you have? How can you captain a ship, when you can't even kill that which threatens your crew? How can the crew have faith in you, when you can't even keep them safe?"

Dropping to one knees, Jim draws out the knife he had hidden in one of his boots and before Gary even have chance to react, Jim sends the knife flying his way. Gary moves, but isn't quite quick enough to escape completely unharmed as the knife cuts through his shirt sleeve and leaves a deep and bloody cut on his upper arm.

Jim only had a couple of seconds to enjoy the look of surprise on Gary's face as he raises a hand to the wound and sees the blood there, before he throws Jim back through the air and into the base of a tree where Jim lands with a painful grunt, as the air is knocked from his lungs.

Gary hadn't even moved.

"You think a mortal as weak as yourself could kill me!" Gary bellows, his eyes glowing so bright Jim had to look away. "You thought you could kill a God?!"

Jim suddenly grins up at Gary. "God's don't bleed, yet you do. You call me pathetic, yet you're possessing a body which is not your own and calling yourself a God! Out of the two us, I'm far from the pathetic one!"

A look of pure fury passed over Gary's face and his eyes flashed in anger. "How dare you speak to me in such a way-"

"You know what?" Jim challenges Gary getting to his feet. "If you really think you're a God, prove it!"

"I have no reason to prove myself to a weakling such as yourself," Gary growls. "You are of no use to me now."

"So what, you're going to kill me?" Jim goads him with a grin. "I'd like to see you try!"

)o(

"You can't be serious?!" McCoy exclaims, in disbelief as he stares at Spock. "You not actually going to listen to the idiot are you?"

"Doctor McCoy please refrain from referring to the Captain in such a manner," Spock answers, one of his eye brows twitching slightly as he does so.

"I'll refer to him any way I god damn please!" McCoy snaps back, glaring at Spock. "Captain or not, he needs someone to tell him when he's being a stupid, idiotic arsehole and a reckless idiot!"

Spock turns sharply and stares at McCoy, causing the bridge crew to hold a collective breath for second. Jim had managed to push Spock to his limits before, was McCoy about to do the same?

"The Captain has given his orders, it is my duty as First Officer to follow his orders." Spock answers and McCoy couldn't help but feel like Spock had just slapped his hand and told him to sit in the naughty corner.

"Now listen here, you green-blooded hobgoblin," McCoy takes a step forward. "I don't care what orders Jim gave you, all I care about is his health and well-being. After all I am Chief Medical Officer of this ship! Leaving him down there with a body possessed by an entity of unknown power is not a good idea! And you're about to leave him there, with it, to die!"

"The Captain ordered-" Spock began only to be cut off by Sulu.

"Commander we've lost the Captain's life signal," Sulu announces, alarm evident in his tone.

Both McCoy and Spock turn to look at Sulu as his hands danced over the panel in front of him as he tries to find any sign of Jim on the planet's surface. Beside him Chekov was working just as fast, if not faster, cursing rapidly in Russian under his breath.

"Full system check, Mr Sulu," Spock orders, walking forward and heading towards the science station.

"All systems functioning normally, Commander," Sulu answers.

There wasn't a single thing wrong with any of the systems and since engineering had fixed the damage which the bridge had suffered days before, not even a single circuit was faulty. As a result it meant that the readings they were getting from the planet's surface were accurate and that didn't bode well for Jim… But Gary's signal had disappeared before Spock and Scotty had even beamed back aboard, so maybe there was still hope.

Spock straightens from where he had been standing over the science station, "Mr Chekov, plot a course for the closest Starbase."

"Aye, Kommander," Chekov answers. "Kourse plotted."

"You can't seriously be doing this, Commander!" McCoy rounds on Spock once more. "He could still be alive for all we know! For all we know Gary could be interfering with our systems! He's already managed to start a fire in engineering for Christ sake!"

"Whether the Captain is still alive or not is regardless," Spock replies. "It has been three hours, four minutes and thirty-nine seconds since myself and Scotty beamed up from the planet's surface and the Captain gave his orders. We will return to the nearest Starbase as the Captain ordered and the planet will be quarantined."

McCoy shook his head and headed towards the turbo-lift before he had a chance to do something he'd later live to regret.

"Why Jim ever wanted you as his First Officer I'll never know," McCoy snorts angrily with another shake of his head. "Said he needed a crew who he could trust to have his back… It's unlike Jim to be such a terrible judge of character."

Spock turned his head slightly and watched the doors of the turbo-lift slide shut behind McCoy, he gave the Vulcan equivalent of a frown before turning his attention back to the view screen. He found Sulu watching him and inclined his head in an affirmative.

)o(

Jim looks round in shock. He was no longer standing on Delta Vega, but in the middle of the bar where Pike had recruited him to join Starfleet… Well dared him to join Starfleet. The bar was completely empty, there wasn't a soul in sight. But the tables were littered with glasses and bowls, whole coats and jackets hung on the backs of chairs.

"I can change the world around you with a single thought," Gary suddenly appeared across from him and held out his arms gesturing to the bar around him. "Remember this?"

Jim glances at Gary before looking at the scene around him. People had appeared, cadets and civilians alike, and Pike had just walked in. Jim knew he was moments away from being given the talk which would result in him joining Starfleet, when suddenly Pike shakes his head and leaves the bar. The bloody and beaten Jim, simply makes his way back over to the bar finishes his drink and walks off.

"You should never have joined Starfleet, Jim," Gary informs him, his voice full of malice. "Pike should never have wasted his time with you! You shouldn't be where you are now! You don't deserve to be where you are now! You were wasting your life away and couldn't care less about anything! People like you don't deserve second chances! To think you have deprived so many people of the lives they could have had because for once you didn't screw something up… There are people who should be in your place, people who should be in your senior crew's place and yet they're not, because Pike went out of his way to recruit a low life like you!"

Jim stares at Gary for a moment before he throws his head back and laughs, much to the confusion of Gary. His little speech had meant to upset Jim, as Jim had once confided in Gary about some of his insecurities at the academy and entity now possessing Gary had access to all the memories the body he was possessing held.

"That still surprises me," Jim laughs. "It really does!"

Gary growls at Jim his eyes flashing dangerously. "You dare to mock me?!"

Jim quickly sobers up and stares at Gary. "You think I'm mocking you? I have much better things to be doing with my time, thanks!"

"You don't care about the lives you have ruined and the opportunities you have taken from those far more deserving than you?" Gary glares at Jim.

"What do you think I was doing with my life before I joined Starfleet, Gary?" Jim questions, his curiosity getting the better of him.

He'd work on a way to escape whatever Gary was conjuring up later, as Jim had a feeling the bar around him was only an optical illusion. But right now he needed to rile Gary up, once he got angry and lost control, he'd make a mistake and one mistake was all Jim needed.

Jim's question made Gary pause. Turning Gary looked at Jim closely. Jim had crossed his arms over his chest and was watching Gary in return. Suddenly Jim grins again and shakes his head in amusement.

"You don't know do you?" Jim mocks. "And God's are supposed to be all knowing!"

"Your petty tricks won't fool me," Gary snaps back, a static energy building up in the air around him as his anger continued to increase.

"What tricks?" Jim demands. "How am I tricking you? You can't blame me for things Gary didn't know!"

"You were friends!" Gary yells. "He knew everything about you!"

"He only knew what I wanted him to know," Jim answers. "He only knew what I wanted him believe was true. You'd be surprised how far a rumour whispered in the right ears can get you, Gary! Because once people think they know the truth, they never look any further. They never dig any deeper."

Gary let out a yell of rage and throw up his hands, sending Jim crashing backwards through the air and into a rock face. The image of the bar around them shatters like glass and fades from existence, revealing the plant filled clearing Gary had created once more.

"Enough," Gary sneers. "You are of no use to me anymore _Captain_. You may take your secrets to your grave."

Out of the ground in front of Jim, less than a foot away from his feet, burst a head stone. His name was clearly carved into the stone, along with his date of birth and death. Suddenly the ground below Jim disappeared leaving him at the bottom of a six foot deep hole and the earth around him closing in.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Nine:

Spock scanned his surroundings quickly as he materialised on the surface of Delta Vega. He internally grateful that he had not beamed down to the same location he, the Captain, Scotty Kelso and Gary had beamed to nearly three and a half hours ago. The creaking facility was nothing more than a pile of rubble and twisted metal.

For a moment Spock believed Jim had been buried under the rubble, it would explain why his single had disappeared. But before he could contemplate contacting the ship to beam back aboard, tracks leading away from the building caught his attention.

As did the small droplets of blood, where if Spock had to make an educated guess, he would have concluded Jim had stopped there for a few minutes after escaping the collapsed building. Armed with a phaser rifle just like he had been before, Spock quickly began following the tracks he believed belonged to Jim.

It didn't take him long to follow the tracks and come upon Jim and Gary. The landscape changed so suddenly, it made Spock disoriented for a moment. The mostly lifeless landscape had suddenly changed into a plant filled glade and Jim and Gary were stood in the middle of it, facing each other.

Spock raised his phaser rifle and took aim, only to hesitate as his finger rested against the trigger. Jim and Gary were both as still as statues, each sharing the same vacant look in their eyes. The silver glow of Gary's eyes seemed dull and almost lifeless, while Jim's eye were unfocused and had a glazed look to them.

As Spock stood there, a static energy begins to build up around Gary, then suddenly Gary throws his arms out towards Jim and sends him flying backwards across the clearing and into a rock face. In an instant Spock had his weapon trained on Gary once more and this time he didn't hesitate as he goes to pull the trigger, only to stop short again as Gary started talking.

"Enough," Gary sneers. "You are of no use to me anymore _Captain_. You may take your secrets to your grave."

Out the corner of his eye Spock notices a head stone burst out of the ground in front of Jim, before Jim drops out of sight. And even from the angle he was at, Spock could see Jim's name carved into the stone, along with his date of birth and death. Pulling the trigger Spock watches, with a small amount of satisfaction, as Gary falls to the ground.

Moving quickly, Spock stops beside the grave Gary had created for Jim and reaches down, his hand closing around Jim's wrist. He takes a step back and pulls Jim up and free of his would be grave. Jim gasps for breath, before forcing himself to get his breathing under control. Jim had been trying to dig himself out, when he had felt on of Spock's hand grip his wrist and pull him up and free of the dirt.

"Thanks, Mr Spock," Jim finally mutters as he forces himself to his feet.

"Thanks are illogical, Captain." Spock answers.

Jim grins at him. "But thank you all the same."

Spock raised an eyebrow at his Captain, before a movement out the corner of his eyes caused him to look round. Gary was beginning to regain consciousness. His eyelids were flickering, making it hard to see the silver colour of his eyes. He reached out an arm towards them, his movements sluggish. Once again Spock raised his phaser rifle, only to be stopped by Jim.

"Captain-" Spock begins.

"No, Spock," Jim cuts him off. "This is something I have to do."

Jim holds out his hands and after a second of hesitation Spock hands over the phased rifle. Jim nodes slightly and begins walking forward towards where Gary was lying as he readied the weapon in his hands. Spock fell into step beside him, only for Jim to stop and glance back at him.

"Stand back, Mr Spock," Jim orders. "Gary could still be dangerous. No point in both of us dying."

Because if Jim couldn't kill Gary with a shot set on kill, he'd have no choice but to set the phaser rifle on overload. Gary had to die, no matter what the cost.

)o(

Jim took the last couple of steps, Gary lay just out of arms reach. Raising the phaser rifle, Jim took aim at the semi-conscious body below him. Jim took a deep breath as his hands began to shake slightly. He was about to kill one of his closest friends… Well the body of one of his closest friends, but it still felt too close for comfort.

He and Gary had been through a lot together at the academy. They had kept each other sane through the worst of times, when a mission they had both been selected for had gone so terribly wrong in Jim's the second year at the academy. Jim owed Gary his life, as without them working as a team, they wouldn't have survived that mission.

They would have been dead just like the other two thirds of those who took part.

It had been one of Starfleet's greatest losses, until Nero had showed up for the second time. It had been one of the most frightening and unnerving experiences Jim had ever gone through… And that counted for a lot as his childhood had been one death filled disaster after another. Hell, his entire life so far had been one death filled disaster after another.

"Jim…" Gary mutters weakly, turning his head in Jim's direction. "Jim…"

Jim adjusted his aim so his shot would go straight through Gary's heart and he tried not to think about who he was about to kill. He was just about to pull the trigger when Gary opened his eyes fully and looked up at Jim, causing Jim to freeze.

Gary's eyes were back to normal.

The silver light of the entity which had possessed him was gone.

"Do it… Jim." Gary mutters.

"Gary…?" Jim questions.

"Do it…" Gary repeats, struggling to get his words out. "Before it's… Too late."

"Your eyes…" Jim mutters. "They're normal."

"Jim… Please," Gary begs. "Do it before-"

Gary's cut off mid-sentence as one of his eyes regains it unearthly silver glow. Without a moment's thought, Jim pulls the trigger. Gary's body goes completely still and the silver fades from his eye and they gain a dull and faraway look only death could give.

)o(

Jim drops the phaser rifle and collapses to his knees beside Gary's body. He reaches forward, his hand shaking slightly as he fights the tears threatening to fall. He could cry and mourn the loss of his friend later in the privacy of his own quarters, because at that moment he was still on duty and he had a job to do.

He had a crew relying on him to keep them safe.

Brushing his hand over Gary's face, Jim shut his dead friend's eyes and gets to his feet. Picking up the phaser rifle, Jim turns and walks back over to Spock and hands the weapon back to him. Spock took back the weapon, unsure of what else to do.

He could see Jim was clearly distressed, but he had no idea what to do or what he was supposed to do. He had seen other humans comforting each other after the passing of those they were close to, but such actions only took place between friends.

"I grieve with thee," Spock finally spoke after deciding it was a suitable course of action in response to Jim's distress.

Jim glanced at Spock and nodes slightly before walking to the other side of the clearing to retrieve his knife he had lost earlier. He hardly noticed as one of Spock's eyebrows slowly got higher and higher up his forehead, as he watches Jim clean the blade and slid the knife down the side of one of his boots.

Turning Jim picks up his phaser rifle from where it had fallen when Gary first attacked him. He glances at Gary's body, before looking away. If every mission ended like this one, Jim didn't think he'd be keeping his command much longer. The admirals were just waiting for him to mess something up, to do something which they could then have him removed from command for. The only ones on Jim's side were Pike and Archer and it was his own fault really.

He had pissed off to many people of at the academy, but what could he say, he lived to defy expectations.

"We need to get back to the ship," Jim mutters, turning back to Spock.

Spock nodes and pulls out his communicator and flips it open.

"Spock to Enterprise," Spock spoke into the device. "Three to beam up."

Jim hardly notices as the transporter beams surrounded them, he was too busy working out what to tell Gary and Kelso's families and what to put in the report. Putting down one of your crewmembers had died only to come back to life with supernatural abilities after being possessed by an unknown entity would probably leave the admiralty questioning his sanity… Maybe he'd leave that part to Spock.

It was only when the sound of someone clearing their throat reached his ears that Jim looked up to find himself standing in the transporter room, face to face with a very unimpressed looking Doctor McCoy.

"Sick bay. Now." Was all Doctor McCoy said.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will be the final chapter is everything goes to plan, so this story is nearly complete! Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Ten:

Jim stared at the far side of the medical bay, as Dr McCoy run a medical scanner over him. Jim hadn't so much as glanced at McCoy since he had sat down on the bio-bed he was currently seated on and he didn't need to look to know his best friend was growing more and more annoyed by the second. It seemed like he wasn't the only one to have picked up on McCoy's increasing annoyance, as the other medical staff seemed to be finding jobs to do as far away from Jim and McCoy as possible.

Jim could hear McCoy grumbling and growling under his breath as he continued to scan him, but he did his best to ignore it. He knew he was being childish, but something McCoy had said during the Nero fiasco had been playing on his mind ever since the Enterprise had left the space dock at the start of this mission months ago.

He knew he should have just sat down with his best friend and talked it over as soon as it had started playing on his mind, but he hadn't. He'd been unable to do it, it was just too much like asking for help. Many would probably call him a coward because of that, but Jim had his reasons for never seeking out help and those reason were filled with blood and death because nothing in his life could ever end in anything else.

Finally McCoy lowered his scanner with a sigh and began sorting through the medical equipment he'd need to treat Jim's injuries. Jim glanced at McCoy for a second before turning his attention back to the wall on the far side of the medical bay.

"You know," McCoy suddenly started talking, not even bothering to see if Jim was actually listening to him. "I was glad, hell I was damn right over the moon, when all this started."

Jim glanced at McCoy again, but McCoy's attention was on treating his countless cuts.

"I'll be the first to admit, this is one of my worst nightmares and watching it play out has been one of the most stressful things I've ever gone through," McCoy continues. "When that call came through saying there had been an accident on the bridge, I felt my heart stop. All I could think about was my best friend was on that bridge and would I be in time to save him… Then it was over. Medical had nine bodies in the morgue and one possessed crew member who could destroy the Enterprise with a single thought."

McCoy paused and looked up at Jim, who meet and held his gaze.

"But all I could feel was joy," McCoy continues once more, holding Jim's gaze. "Joy at the fact my best friend was no longer ignoring me. Joy at the fact my best friend was calling me 'Bones' again and not 'Dr McCoy' or 'Leonard' when we're off duty in the mess hall."

"Bones…" Jim mutters, unsure on what to say but knowing he had to say something.

"No," McCoy stops Jim from saying any more. "I don't want you to apologise. You're my best friend, Jim. We were roommates for three years. Do you seriously think I wouldn't have worked it out? I'm a doctor, Jim, it's my job to notice things like that… I just wanted to say-"

Whatever McCoy was about to say was cut off by Jim all but lunging forward, to wrap his arms around McCoy in a hug. McCoy stood still in shock for a moment before returning the embrace. Jim smiled into McCoy's shoulder as he heard the rest of the medical team breathe a sigh of relief. McCoy's bad mood had vanished the moment Jim had looked at him and held his gaze.

And just like he had done countless times before, McCoy made a silent promise to himself that he'd always be there for his best friend, no matter what. After all from what McCoy knew of Jim's life before Starfleet, it was about god damn time someone had the kids back.

)o(

Jim stared at the PADD screen in front of him. It held a list of eleven names. The eleven crew members who had died on this mission. Eleven dead crew members. To Jim that was unacceptable. The number of fatalities was too high. All he could think about was what he could have done to avoid this. What he could have done to save their lives. But each time he came up with nothing.

There was no way of knowing when they left their galaxy that some unknown force was going to attack them, do unknown damage, kill nine members of the crew and leave one possessed by an incredibly power, supernatural entity. Even when they found that distress beacon, they had no way of knowing they would encounter the same force which had led to that ship's Captain ordering the self-destruction of their ship.

Then there was Gary and Kelso.

Jim knew there was a chance Kelso's death could have been avoided.

If Kelso had never beamed down to Delta Vega, he'd still be alive. But it had been Kelso who had found what was needed to fix the ship. And who knew, if Kelso hadn't been there someone else could have died in his place and that someone would most likely have been Scotty… Or maybe him or Spock or maybe even all of them.

If Scotty hadn't found Kelso's body, he would never have gone looking for Jim and Spock and who knew what could have happened if Scotty hadn't found them when he did. Both he and Spock could have regained consciousness too late to stop Gary and the Enterprise would have either been destroyed or Gary would have used it to get to the closest Federation planet and then destroyed the Enterprise.

Suddenly Jim's computer sounds the alert for an incoming call and Jim's gaze snaps up from the PADD he was looking at. The caller ID told Jim it was Pike who was calling him. Jim looked down at the report one last time before reaching over and answering the call.

)o(

Fatality report: Stardate 2253.136

Lieutenant Patrick Avers, age 38. Science department, zoology. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

Lieutenant Rebecca Barton, age 27. Engineering department, quantum mechanics. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

Ensign Andrew Brooke, age 21. Science department, computer science. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

Nurse Adam Cole, age 31. Medical department, field medic. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

Lieutenant Martin Green, age 26. Science department, astrophysics. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

Doctor Elouise Miller, age 35. Medical department, space psychology. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

Ensign Micky Parker, age 20. Engineering department, junior engineer. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

Ensign Amelia Towan, age 23. Linguistic department, communications. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

Ensign Samantha Wyatt, age 22. Science department, geology. Cause of death: Seizure leading to brain haemorrhages and neurological damage. Date of death: Stardate 2253.135

)o(

Fatality report: Stardate 2258.140

Lieutenant Lee Kelso, age 25. Command department, navigator. Cause of death: Single phaser shot to the right temple. Date of death: Stardate 2258.140

Lieutenant Gary Mitchell, age 26. Command department, pilot. Cause of death: Single phaser shot to the chest. Date of death: Stardate 2258.140

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Captain's Log: Stardate 2258.141

 _It was only yesterday when myself, Spock and Scotty beamed down to Delta Vega, yet it feels like a lifetime has passed since then. Yesterday two of my closest friends died. Their deaths adding to the other nine promising crew members who died days before. They had their entire lives and careers ahead of them. They all had families back on Earth who'll never see them again… Who's goodbyes on the day we left space dock were their finally goodbyes. The last time they'd ever see their loved ones face to face. The pain, the searing pain, of losing those I care so much about, it's almost unbearable, but I know it's my job as Captain to bare it… Because the lives of the rest of my crew depend on it._

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Jim all but stumbled into his quarters, having just pulled a double shift on the bridge. They were still a few days away from the closest Starbase, but the Enterprise was making good progress and Scotty had pulled of a near miracle to get the ship moving a warp one point four. The funerals for the fallen crew members had taken place before Jim had come on shift and he had overseen the ceremony.

It showed the dedication the dead crew members had to exploring space, as not a single one had requested that their bodies be returned to Earth for burial. Each had requested that they be buried in space, for lack of a better term. So in a ceremony which was shown live throughout the ship, eleven coffins had been fired out into space via the torpedo tubes.

Watching Gary and Kelso's coffins get fired out into space had almost been too much for Jim, but he had somehow held it together and made it through his double shift. Nobody mentioned it if they noticed his eyes were slightly red from mourning his dead friends the night. McCoy had turned up at his door with a bottle of bourbon and they had drunk, or in Jim's case, drunk and cried in honour of their fallen comrades.

And Jim didn't care in the slightest if people thought him weak for crying. He was James Tiberius Kirk and he could cry if he damn well wanted to. Two of his closest friends had died and he had killed one of them in order to protect his crew, if people didn't think that was acceptable to cry for them, then they could go-

Jim's chain of thought was cut off by his computer sounding the incoming call alert and much to his surprise it was Ambassador Spock's caller ID on the screen. Sighing Jim quickly made his way over to the table and collapsed into the seat and accepted the call. Ambassador Spock's face flickered into view and Jim couldn't help but smile slightly at the face which greeted him.

He owed Ambassador Spock his life and if it hadn't been for Ambassador Spock's help, Jim knew he would never have been able to beat Nero, hell he never would have made it off Delta Vega alive and he would never have made it back to the Enterprise in time to save Earth, even if he had escaped that monster alone.

"Ambassador," Jim greets.

"Jim," Spock greets in return inclining his head slightly.

"What can I do you for?" Jim asks, smiling slightly at the way Ambassador Spock raised an eyebrow at his question.

"I believe we have yet to finish our chess game," Spock answers, not commenting on Jim's poor grammar. "It is your move, is it not?"

"I think it is," Jim agrees. "But I don't think I'll be a good companion right now… It's been a trying few days. We were tasked to explore the far edge of our galaxy and we run into some… Trouble, you could say. Eleven crew members were lost, two of whom were close friends of mine."

"Gary Mitchell and Lee Kelso," Ambassador Spock replies.

"Yeah," Jim nodes. "But how-"

"The same events occurred in my own timeline in a few years from now," The Ambassador answered, with a hint of longing and sadness in his voice.

"I thought you weren't going to tell us about your timeline," Jim points out.

A hint of a smile crossed Ambassador Spock's face. "I said I would not talk about events which have yet to come to pass in your time. I'll have you checkmated in three moves."

Jim nodes and turns his attention to the chess board beside his computer. He quickly moves his first chess piece of the continued game and grins at the Ambassador, he was looking forward to seeing how this move affected the Ambassador plan.

Checkmate in three moves, Jim was highly doubtful.

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 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This is final chapter! I hope you've all enjoyed reading this story. I will be publishing the next story 'AOS: The Naked Time' sometime this week, so keep an eye out for it. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


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